Author: Ben DeLuca
Liberal arts colleges across the country are becoming more selective, and Occidental is no exception. This year, 38 percent of 6,107 applicants were admitted for the class of 2015, according to Director of Admissions Sally Richmond. This is a five percent decrease from last year’s acceptance rate. The Admissions Office has had to update some processes with the change in the ways students apply to college, but the overall procedure remains the same.
According to Cuseo, this year’s applicant pool is the largest in the college’s history, as well as the most able. Despite the larger application pool, the administration wants to decrease class sizes in the future, according to Richmond.
“We were more selective because we had a slight increase in applications, and our new student enrollment goals are slightly lower then the actual yield in the last two years,” Richmond said.
The yield rate, the number of admitted students who actually commit to Occidental College, is not yet determined because high school seniors have until May 1 to make a decision.
The procedure for selecting students to accept has not changed significantly, despite the increase in the applicant pool. Cuseo and Richmond feel the application process is comprehensive enough not to warrant significant changes in its own decision-making process.
This does not mean, however, that the admissions process is any easier for Cuseo and Richmond than it was last year. The process still involves calculating the financial needs of students and combining those with the desire to pick a talented and diverse freshman class, as well as many other factors, according to Cuseo.
A key area that the Office of Admissions continues to work on is how to attract more and better applicants. Richmond highlighted the importance of social networking sites like Facebook in efforts to attract better applicants.
“Students use technology to research schools, communicate with colleges, share insights and opinions on social media venues like College Confidential and engage with individual colleges on multiple levels,” Richmond said.
The school has taken steps to modernize its entire admissions process and keep up with the technology that high school students use to inform themselves. There are several admissions staff members and student interns who design these online resources. Richmond complimented the work done by these staff members to meet the challenges of picking the class of 2015.
“We had a number of new admission and financial aid officers this year, including several alumni and former senior interviewers, who are fast, smart learners and terrific additions to the offices,” she said.
With the admissions process for the class of 2015 drawing to a close, the Office of Admissions is already gearing up for next year.
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